Little Ice Armor
by Stitious
Summary: He stayed with her so that she wouldn't have to be alone again, wouldn't have to cry by herself any longer.


**Author's Note - **Yeah, I kind of just jotted this down at two in the morning, so pardon the incohesiveness and the OOC characters. Enjoy, and leave a review on your way out if you feel so inclined.

**Little Ice Armor**

It was an instinct to separate herself from every noise and every distraction so that no one could pity her own self-induced loneliness. The quiet was familiar to her and ironically it was the desire for solitude that had brought them together so often. She would separate herself and he would always find her. Now, not only did she expect him, she was eager to hear him approach. The sound of dirt and grass crunching beneath his shoes was just another required part of the ritual as he would come to sit beside her in quiet content.

Erza stared absentmindedly out into the sun-streaked horizon, mutely watching the dying sun throw its last light across yellow clouds drifting lazily in the breeze. The sun dipped itself into the water to spread its golden hue across the lake before descending into the depths of the horizon. The moment its light head vanished beneath the waves a small, clear object skidded across the blue surface of the water before sinking. Erza turned her gaze to Gray who reclined quietly next to her, watching as his fingers played with a small, frozen prism to replace the one he had tossed into the lake.

"I liked the one you just threw into the water."

"I didn't." He flexed his fingers and layers of ice swept across his palms, colliding to form something similar to a little house.

"… And that is?"

"My old home." He took a moment to scrutinize the creation, "at least, what I remember of it." After some inspection the sculpture was deemed inadequate and it became another victim to the lake. Erza watched it sink with a tired sigh. It was a form of personal training for him, creating small, complex structures to increase the precision of his magic. While he perceived the activity in a more serious manner she simply found it entertaining, that suspense of always wondering what the next design would be.

The female mage stretched out her legs and laid back on the grassy knoll, staring up at a blank, navy sky. Something chilled touched her hand but after sitting with an ice mage for several hours she was accustomed to the feel and simply opened up her palm to let Gray drop a sculpture in.

"This?"

"Just look at it." She brought her hand up to her face and peered closely at the small creation, fingers roving over the frigid and immaculate surface.

She couldn't help but wonder if he did it for her sake: Creating these models just to keep her away from the troubling thoughts that constantly plagued her vulnerable mind. She vividly recalled the first day he sat with her, the conviction in his voice when he claimed that she shouldn't ever have to cry alone now that she was a part of Fairy Tail. He'd held up his promise and hadn't relented in joining her by the water's edge. He stayed with her so that she wouldn't have to be alone again, wouldn't have to cry by herself any longer.

"A suit of armor." She stated.

"A damn good suit of armor."

"… I don't think I can fit into this, Gray." Erza laughed softly while turning the three-inch sculpture to admire the detail.

"It won't melt for a while. I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow, so if something brings you down while I'm gone, pretend that little armor suit is a person. Then, technically, I still won't have let you cry alone." He grimaced after speaking. "That sounded better in my head."

"I get the idea… Thank you." They stayed a few minutes longer until the dim afterglow of daylight faded and the lake turned black with the sky. Erza rose to her feet and Gray followed suit, the two of them ascending the hill in silence.

There was a gentle tug in the back of Erza's mind to remind Gray to be safe on the mission; to tell him that the little ice armor couldn't be a permanent replacement if he was careless, but by the time they parted ways she still had said nothing. Walking in opposite directions down the street neither of them bothered to turn and look back. If Erza had, she would have seen Gray gently rubbing the vacant space where his ring figure had been only minutes earlier. Now turned to permanent ice, it existed in the form of a little suit resting gently in Erza's right hand. A little piece of his presence inserted into a little suit of armor.

Six days after Gray left for his mission a letter was sent to Fairy Tail confirming the ice mage's death and the increased ranking of the mission. There was no body to retrieve.

The little ice armor retained its shape forever. Erza clasped it tightly every time she separated herself from her friends and returned to the lake's edge, keeping it close so that the creator would keep his promise to never let her be alone even in death.


End file.
